Key Facts

time and place written · Unknown, but probably mainland Greece, around 750 b.c.

date of first publication · Unknown

publisher · Unknown

narrator · The poet, who declares himself to be the medium through
which one or many of the Muses speak

point of view · The narrator speaks in the third person. An omniscient
narrator (he has access to every character’s mind), he frequently
gives insight into the thoughts and feelings of even minor characters, gods
and mortals alike.

tone · Awe-inspired, ironic, lamenting, pitying

tense · Past

setting (time) · Bronze Age (around the twelfth or thirteenth century b.c.); The Iliad begins nine years after the start of
the Trojan War

setting (place) · Troy (a city in what is now northwestern Turkey) and
its immediate environs

protagonist · Achilles

major conflict · Agamemnon’s demand for Achilles’ war prize,
the maiden Briseis, wounds Achilles’ pride; Achilles’ consequent
refusal to fight causes the Achaeans to suffer greatly in their
battle against the Trojans.

rising action · Hector’s assault on the Achaean ships; the return of
Patroclus to combat; the death of Patroclus

climax · Achilles’ return to combat turns the tide against the
Trojans once and for all and ensures the fated fall of Troy to which
the poet has alluded throughout the poem.

falling action · The retreat of the Trojan army; Achilles’ revenge on
Hector; the Achaeans’ desecration of Hector’s corpse

themes · The glory of war; military values over family life;
the impermanence of human life and its creations

motifs · Armor; burial; fire

symbols · The Achaean ships; the shield of Achilles

foreshadowing · Foreshadowing is prominent in The Iliad, as
the poet constantly refers to events that have yet to occur and
to fated outcomes. Patroclus’s return to battle foreshadows Achilles’
return to battle, for example, and Hector’s taunting of the dead
Patroclus foreshadows the desecration of his own corpse by Achilles.
Also, Achilles and Hector themselves make references to their own fates—about
which they have been informed; technically, only Hector’s references
foreshadow any event in the poem itself, however, as Achilles dies
after the close of the epic.